Buckyballs, the popular magnetic desktop toy, have officially been banned by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Because for some reason parents can't keep the things out of their children's hands, and those children can't keep the things out of their grubby little pie-holes. Come on -- you probably don't even know how magnets work and you're giving them to your kid to play with! God, be a responsible parent for once.

The CSPC said that Buckyballs are a "substantial product hazard" and are concerned by the injuries it causes to kids who swallow them:

"Notwithstanding the labeling, warnings and efforts taken by (Maxfield and Oberton), ingestion incidents continued to rise because warnings are ineffective"

When swallowed, the CSPC says that Buckyballs have the potential to pinch and trap intestines and require surgery to remove.

I mean, it sucks when something like this happens. They're a perfectly acceptable adult toy, you just can't let kids play with them. Take a dildo for example. Fine for adults, not so much for kids (unless you tell them it's a magic dagger!). Simple as that. "But didn't you eat some Buckyballs?" Yeah but I was pretending to be Magneto, that's different.

Thanks to jedi-GK, LeftRightLeft, Dustin, nazilla and Tofu Butcher, who don't believe in warning labels, only survival of the fittest.

I want to thank goverment for banned buckyball magnet toys. According to my information toys are more than fun and enjoyment for kids. This kind of toys are unsafe for them. So this is great news for kids safety.

Eh, it's more like +18 pron comic books. Many comic stores got taken down by local courts back in the 70s-80s ...since everyone knows that comics are for little kids only. You can't sell Fantagraphics' Eros line of comics in Toys-R-Us either.

"Everyone knows" that toys are for kids. If you want to sell adult toys in IRL toy stores, you probably need a separate room in the store. Otherwise everyone will think that they're "toys," rather than "Adult Puzzle and Mechanical Intestine Perforater." Or perhaps sell them in a large sealed brown bag with a label ADULT TOY, AGE +18 ONLY. That way parents get the subtle message that "Just Try Getting Caught Giving This To Your Kids. SWAT Will Bust Down Your Door."

The Doctor

I'd rather have Buckyballs in the world than stupid children who swallow magnets. I miss natural selection.

"The attempted ban of buckyball desk toys is absurd. Like many items marketed to adults, these can be dangerous to children. It is an adult's responsibility to keep them from children, just like countless other objects around the house or office.

Conversely, there are many toy items for children which are hazardous to adults. Adults tripping on blocks or slipping on marbles, and every medical operation facility has a record of all kinds of cylindrically shaped toy items which needed to be surgically removed from the bodies of adults.

The point is that many items are dangerous when misused. This is why warnings exist. Just because dumb people ignore the warnings doesn't give you the right to wield your authority against a product, and even if you technically have the power to, it is an unwise path to go on, and an awful precedent to start."

Guess what, kids swallow all kinds of things. Will they ban watch batteries? If a kid swallows one of those things, the acid will pretty much destroy their insides. Coins can be easily swallowed, will the National Mint start making larger coins so they can't be swallowed?

Ed

There is no way the generation of idiots being raised now will be able to keep this country afloat and take care of us when we're old when they can't even stop eating magnets.